Our second annual meeting in March was a full success, starting with an inspiring Translational Research Symposium, followed by fruitful project-specific discussions and three days of multi-faceted workshops for the young researchers.
The symposium on 12th March was open to the public and was attended by GlyCoCan members as well as participants outside the consortium. Talks by renown cancer researchers from academia and industry gave an overview on the recent developments in the field to, in total, roughly 70 attendees. Non-scientific aspects that are crucial for a successful translation of research were also covered. For the latter, representatives from the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), DDF Ventures (life-science company development), and Horizons Unleashed (business development).
The following days of the meeting were dedicated to updates on the progress of the GlyCoCan research and discussing the next steps to achieve the scientific and non-scientific goals of the project. This involved all participants, but especially the 13 GlyCoCan early stage researchers. Moreover, the GlyCoCan ESRs, together with ESRs from our sister consortium GlySign, received intense training within workshops on Data Analysis, Communication in Science, and Personal Effectiveness given by experienced mentors from Ludger Ltd., LUMC, and Horizons Unleashed, respectively. All workshops were well-received and contributed to developing positive group dynamics and closer interaction among the ESRs of the two consortia. The social program with an all-in-the-dark experience in Amsterdam and social dinners in the center of Leiden added up to this.
